USD Magazine Fall 2022

[ b y J u l e n e S n y d e r ]

Mi chae l Crawford ‘ 08 (BA) i sn ’ t af ra i d to get h i s hands d i r t y o say that Michael Crawford — who earned his undergradu- ate degree from USD in 2008 with a double major in sociology and psychology — has overcome a lot in his life is an

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international. We provide everything they need but the toothbrush.” He also points out that for every one of his buildings, he provides a certain percentage of units that are affordable. “One of my tenants pays less than half of market rate. I’ve never raised his rent; I see how hard he works.” Crawford is both humble about and proud of his successes. “In a way, this whole thing started out as dumb luck,” he says. “Just going to USD and being part of that community, and seeing what kind of quality students were here, I wanted to ride that wave.” Hard work had a lot to do with it as well. A budding entrepreneur even as a college student, he was renting in Dogpatch while in school. “My landlord happened to own two buildings right here,” he gestures. “She wanted to sell one. And I told her, ‘I would like to buy it.’ I didn't have much cash, so I drove for Uber for a little bit and got enough cash for the down payment to buy one of them, a pretty run-down duplex.” Thanks to those crash courses on YouTube, he fixed up half the duplex, rented it out and repeated the process with the other unit. An architect friend took one look at the property and suggest- ed adding another building in the back. “And that's what got this whole thing started.” rawford came to USD as a second-year student after tearing his Achilles tendon while attending and playing football for Virginia’s Crawford University. “My coach happened to know Jim Harbaugh, who was coming in to coach for USD, and thought it might be a good fit for me. I’m originally from Los Angeles, so it was just nice to be home in the sun, attending a private school, and to still be able to play football. And obviously, the education factor speaks for itself.” The first in his family to pursue a college degree, Crawford has nothing but praise for his USD experience. “Coming from humble beginnings to where we are now has been a journey,” he says. “We’re originally from Inglewood, California, a very low [socioeconomic] family. My mother was once addicted to crack cocaine. My father wasn’t always the best man around, and had an alcohol problem, but still, despite all that, it was a very loving household, and they always pushed me to want more.” He credits USD’s McNair Scholars program for his academic successes. Funded by USD and the U.S. Department of Education, the program serves high-achieving undergraduates who are commit- ted to pursuing a PhD or research-intensive graduate degree. “When I was in school, the program was basically for first- generation kids,” he explains. “It was trying to facilitate that gap that was there for most people of color — especially from chal- lenged neighborhoods — to where we are now. They had great success in keeping you motivated to finish.” On a practical level, that meant that he spent summers on campus, which helped him to continue achieving his goals. “When other students had to get part-time jobs at the Coca-Cola plant or whatever, I was able to stay here while doing research, which helped me get C

extreme understatement. But these days, things are looking pretty sweet. For one thing, he is a very proud papa. You don’t have to ask him twice to be shown a picture of 18-month-old HoneyRose. Fittingly, in the photo he selects from the multitude on his phone, the adorable tot is sporting a wee hard hat and kid-sized tool belt. “She wants to be just like me,” says Crawford. “She’s been coming with me to job sites since she was 3 months old. We have a blast together.” For another thing, his wife, Claire (Moga) ’09 (BA), ’12 (MSN), ’17 (PhD), is expecting their son this fall, and Crawford is thrilled to soon greet the newest member of the family. And yet another note of posi- tivity comes from the success of his real estate development company, Crawford Design and Development, which recently closed on the sale of a $4 million house in Point Loma and has several projects near USD aimed at college students, mostly in the nearby neighborhood known as Dogpatch. “We’ve been buying and building and creating there for the last seven years,” he says. “We recently finished an eight-unit project called The Carl, which is named after my father, who was murdered eight years ago. And we just broke ground on a 14-unit project right behind Ballast Point Brewery that will probably be done by the end of this year. We have another project in the area that we finished up about six years ago.” Crawford admits that it’s unusual for a 37-year-old man with a doctorate in clinical psychology to become a general contractor after studying at “YouTube University” to learn the fundamentals of becoming a building developer and designer. “In terms of our development firm, it’s myself and my wife,” he explains. “We do the majority of the heavy lifting, although we do have an investor, Josh Brisco ’06 (BA), ’07 (BA), who I played football with at USD.” Crawford delights in the changes he sees in Dogpatch, a small area just across from the USD campus on the hills between Linda Vista and Friars Road. “We love the area. Having gone to school at USD, we saw Dogpatch as a diamond in the rough.” He unlocks the heavy padlock of the construction site of a multi- unit project behind the brewery and points out that within the week, heavy I-beams will be installed and framing will be well underway. “If you come back in two weeks, there’ll be a second floor on it; we’re going up four stories. And there’ll be a rooftop deck where tenants can watch the SeaWorld fireworks and all that jazz.” In a tour of one of his units at The Carl, which is a few blocks away, he shows off the stainless-steel appliances, sleek built-in shelv- ing, flat-screen TVs, subway tile backsplash and modern furnishings. “We provide our tenants with Internet, power, cleaning services, all the furnishings,” he says. “I like to call it ‘Airbnb meets student housing.’ It’s perfect for college students, particularly if they’re

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Fa l l 2022